Chip Kelly ready to take bull by the horns with Oregon’s QB issue

Fittingly, Chip Kelly approached running with the bulls in Pamplona, Spain, in mid-July as he would the game plan for an Oregon-USC matchup.

He watched video of the annual spectacle, on YouTube. Prior to the running, he and UO receivers coach Scott Frost walked the course, and mapped out the best possible route.

“We went into it likes coaches,” Kelly said.

Then, the morning of their run arrived. As Kelly and Frost stood among the masses awaiting the 903-yard run, a rocket was fired into the sky, signaling that the six bulls had been released from their pen. A second rocket indicated they’d reached the streets of Pamplona.

It was time to start running.

“After that, it was totally anarchy,” Kelly said Monday, at Oregon’s media day session to mark the start of preseason camp. “The game plan we were going to execute was out the window, and we were just running for our lives.”

No doubt Kelly will be much more within his element over the next month, as he tackles the most pressing task bearing down on the Oregon coaching staff this August — identifying a starting quarterback to lead the Ducks into their season opener Sept. 1 against Arkansas State in Autzen Stadium. Sophomore Bryan Bennett and redshirt freshman Marcus Mariota will resume the battle they began waging in April, won decisively by Mariota in the spring game.

There are other issues to address over the three weeks of preseason camp, which began with a walk-through, special teams meetings and then Monday afternoon’s first practice of the month. Receivers must emerge, and tight end depth is a question mark, particularly in light of sophomore Colt Lyerla’s delayed arrival while he addresses an unspecified issue off the field.

But any time a quarterback job is up for grabs, it becomes a marquee subject. Particularly in an offense as prolific as Oregon’s since Kelly took over.

“I’ve got a lot of faith, after seeing Bryan for a couple years now and Marcus for a full year now, in both those guys’ abilities to play,” Kelly said. “But until they actually get into a game, it’s always an interesting dynamic. … The spring game really is closer to our 15th spring practice than it is to the opening game against Arkansas State. Their first snap is going to be really our first look at how they handle it. I anticipate them being very successful, but we’ll see. That’s obviously a big question for all of us.” Click here for the complete story.